Yes, I Know...

Ok, I know I've been away for four and a half months... still in the same place, living on Prince Edward Island, Canada with four ornery cats and a loving, (patient) husband... lots has been happening over the past few months and today would not only have been my Dad's 89th birthday but its also the 3 year anniversary of his passing from this life in June of 2010, but the sense of loss was renewed. It was shortly after that I stopped writing my blog.

I have decided to come back and to offer more than just chat and pics of my cats to my readers. So you can look forward to a bunch of other things coming your way soon. Part of my plan is to honor my Dad, who was a prolific story teller (author), poet, song writer, painter, artist and my inspiration for my own writing; through my blog. He wasn't so much an animal lover in the sense that I am but, curious thing, animals were attracted to HIM!! Even the most dangerous sort of dog would be calm and well behaved in his presence... 

Be prepared for an wide array of different things to HIT THIS BLOG in the coming month! 

Hope you stick around --  Interesting things are on the way! I will get a few things ahead over the weekend but expect something Friday. I will also be making some changes to my blog page... hopefully I haven't forgotten everything about making changes but if the page looks 'wonky', you'll know why! 
So far, I got in successfully, have written this short blurb, saved, previewed and posted, added labels... Heck, I even remembered how to pop in a picture --

Thanks for stopping by.

Catspaw is BACK!

Aspects Of An Anniversary

What do you do for your anniversary?   Somehow Merrill and I started going out for an anniversary dinner to a favorite or new restaurant. We started this due to our finances; like everyone we have bills that eat up our paychecks and debt to pay down so it seemed like the most sensible thing to do. Remember, I'm not talking McDonald's here; nice place but even Timmie's is an improvement on a special occasion. Before we moved to Prince Edward Island two years ago; its been two years, eight months the end of May, coming up but am I counting??  Anyway, since we moved here from our beloved Alberta where we had a favorite place we'd go that this island sorely lacks. There is no replacing a good Buffet!  There is one here but once was enough at the price they charge for what you get in return.


The first aspect is how you chose to celebrate your anniversary and since anything goes within reason, there are no set rules. From dinner out, a movie, a night on the town, dancing, a weekend getaway if you can afford it, exchanging gifts. Maybe you can farm out the kids to a neighbor or grandparents... Better yet, get them to clean the house while your gone!

If you're like me, kinda like with Christmas, you plan for it well ahead of time. To that end here is one thing that I do to make it more special. Say you have some spare cash (HA!) excuse the laugh, I'm still working on that part. 
Ok, so you know those gift cards you see in every store that is allowed to carry them, every time I can afford it I invest in one, from my favorite stores of course, I purchase. Then I tuck them safely away and more often than not, forget they exist. Then something comes up and I go on a hunt for them. I try to do this, once every month and for a sizable amount like 50 bucks to make it worthwhile as, lets face it, $10 even $25 just doesn't count for much anymore. But, I have to say that when it comes from a friend or family member, it is very much appreciate.

Are you a coupon clipper?  I've become one but, I go online to my favorite stores and new stores that I find and get my coupons that way. Always making sure that its a worthwhile item, at least something I'd actually buy and the expiration date is not too close to hand. Sometimes one can come across a good spa deal or gym promotion if one is keeping an eye out. Sounds ridiculous ~~ a coupon to get the vehicle fixed for half price will mean a great deal to hubby!  A free hair cut and style will literally make a new woman out of the Mrs's, especially around Spring ~~ the time when we get antsy and run after any change that presents itself. 

If nothing else, hand your spouse a gift card and send them shopping!  No worry ~ no guilt, you've had it paid for months ago and you where lucky to find it again!!  Might as well use it, its money already spent anyway. Remember when you actually enjoyed such things before you got in the habit of counting the pennies in your purse??

Enjoy, guilt free!


Catspaw

Theme For Coming Week

Going by the calendar week the new week actually starts every Sunday! So, I will have to post the new theme every Saturday. Note that the theme will include excerpts from my Sailor story for those of you who are following it. Ideally, there should be three posts today: Sailor is posted, this one on the theme and the first part of the theme itself. 

The theme I've chosen for this first week is Anniversary; seeing as I just celebrated my 10th to a very loving and understanding husband. 

Stay tuned for what's coming up.

Catspaw

Working On ~~~

Sorry to be so late. I had an issue with a barn cat today. His name is Scaredy and for good reason ~ he's an absolute TWAWT!

So named because he's a barn cat that refuses to let anyone near him, although he is one to come round my patio door, begging. As you know my door(s) are open to all comers, within reason. Well, the usual barn cats came in this morning and as I quickly found out so did Scaredy. He came in (for the first time ever and probably the last) without me knowing it. It poured buckets of rain half the day so I closed the glass patio door. Lord God! All hell broke loose when Scaredy realized he couldn't get out!!!

He must have slammed into the patio door four times and the front window at least twice while running ramshackle through the house. Stupid cat smashed his nose up pretty good in the process. That other black cat did the same but Merrill was able to check him out and he wasn't hurt to the point where he would not recover; I'm sure the same will be said of Scaredy. Anyway, he managed to crawl under the fridge and I had to drag that out and get him free... Then he got himself trapped behind the big brown chair next to the patio door so I could finally shoo him outside. Haven't seen him since! Still have two greys and the black one in though, barn cats all and all as scared, at first as he is. They quickly learned the benefits. 

Today is our 10th Anniversary ~~~

Dumb cat!

Catspaw

Hello and Welcome To My 100th Blog!

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening...

...to all my readers and visitors. This is a very special blog because its my One Hundredth. Since the beginning, when I first started on January 22nd of 2012, I have been mixing things up with a variety of offerings. Most of them are about cats, with a few that are off-topic. So I thought I'd share a little more about who I am and why I'm doing this everyday. I know from cruising the net that not all bloggers post a daily entry; I do because some of my readers have told me they like coming to my blog for that very reason. This blog has also become an important creative venue for me over the past, almost three months, and I enjoy it very much. 

Who I am! I'm a writer and not just any writer. One of my strengths seems to be writing descriptive stories. I say 'seems to be' because I am still exploring my writing style. If you've been following my blogs, I began a story the week before introducing it on February 24th, 2012; Sailor and the Ruined Castle. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I can tell you its worth more than that! The most interesting aspect of this story is its inception, I am writing it based completely on pictures I find on the net. The story writes itself from there. I'm not one of those sit-in-front-of-a-blank-paper writers; I let the picture inspire the story and follow it from there and each picture inspires the direction the story takes. I also have journals that date back to the 1980's, full of stories and poetry that I go back to every now and again. 

Why do I blog everyday? Its my favorite creative outlet for my story and for everything else I like to share with you, my readers. One reader told me she likes the fact that I post every single day; another said she comes back because there is always new and different content. I like variety myself and loads of pictures so that is what I use for the base of all my blogs. Since I will only settle for original, written~personally~by~me content; while I will take an idea from a different web page I will also rewrite it my own words, keeping the original content and context, intact. I don't mislead my readers and visitors. I also love to hear comments about what I am offering to as to gauge the relevance of my content. 

So, H~A~P~P~Y 100th Blog Anniversary to ME!!

I hope you have enjoyed my blogs thus far and will keep returning, especially to follow Sailor in his adventures; which incidentally, is now in the Chapter 2 phase. 

I would like to extend a 'Thank You' to all my faithful readers and new visitors to my blog, I wouldn't continue if I did not have both your interest and your support. I thank you and Sailor thanks you. And Thank you for your comments. 

Catspaw